Michele Bachmann thinks the Muslim Brotherhood has made “deep penetration” into the U.S. government, and she wants five federal agencies to launch an investigation into its influence.
And you thought McCarthyism was a relic of the 1950s!
In a June interview with radio host Sandy Rios, Bachmann said: “It appears that there has been deep penetration in the halls of our United States government by the Muslim Brotherhood… that there are individuals who are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood who have positions, very sensitive positions, in our Department of Justice, our Department of Homeland Security, potentially even in the National Intelligence Agency.”
Following that interview, Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim himself, said that “if [Bachmann] has sources for this type of information, she owes it to the country to reveal them to the proper authorities, but definitely not in this way… if she doesn’t have this type of information, she should not be whipping up fear and hysteria about a very important manner.”
But Bachmann is now naming names. Late last month, she sent letters to the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence raising concerns about Muslim Brotherhood infiltration.
The St. Cloud Times provides details of Bachmann’s letters, which are cosigned by four other Republican Representatives:
The letter to the State Department singles out Huma Abedin, a deputy chief of staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and asserts that three of Abedin’s family members are connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. It says Abedin’s position affords her access to Clinton, and adds that the department has “taken actions recently that have been enormously favorable to the Muslim Brotherhood and its interests.”
Copies of the letters from Bachmann and her fellow witch-hunters can also be consulted here: the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State.
Update: See “House GOP Intel Committee chair calls Bachmann’s Muslim Brotherhood witch hunt ‘very important'”,Think Progress, 11 July 2012